It is a subglacial volcano that formed in the Pleistocene epoch when this area was buried beneath the Cordilleran Ice Sheet during the Quaternary glaciation.

[2] The eruptions melted the ice, so the hot magma contacted with water and caused violent explosions.

When hiking here early in summer, some of the craters may be filled with runoff water (called maars) and are less obvious.

Fiftytwo Ridge has only been called that since 1952 when a biological study was conducted here by Ralph Ritcey and Pat Martin.

Clearwater Valley ranchers Laurence and Charlie Ludtke often guided big-game hunters into these meadows, in search of the prized bull caribou.